CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS—As early as the first week of school, it was known that we would eventually have rain that would end the heat dome that settled over South Texas. However, nobody expected the rain to be as severe as it was.
Maybe it was the fact that Corpus Christi has gone about two months without rain, or maybe it was the sheer magnitude of the storm. Either way, Flour Bluff faced their fair share of challenges after tropical storm Harold made landfall on Padre Island.
“The rain was super heavy on the Island and it was honestly hard to drive anything but 5-10 miles below the speed limit because of the fact that it was hard to see very far out. It was a struggle, not only due to the risk of hydroplaning, but due to the traffic caused because of the delays and rain,” said sophomore Mia Camila Anderson-Corbo, who carpooled three kids with her to school in the morning.
Flour Bluff, and many other schools in the area, as far as Callallen, instituted a two-hour delay to the start of school. Because of the delay, students who drove themselves to school were having a hard time getting around. Senior Juliana Diuguid claimed she “hydroplaned twice” on the highway coming into the Bluff from in town.
“I drove myself to school. The rain was a lot less at my house but very bad on the highway,” said senior Xander Nguyen, who also lives in town.
Weather is unpredictable, and school officials had to make a decision with the information that they had before landfall. Many Flour Bluff and Padre Island residents felt that the delay did more harm than good, citing that it would have been safer for students to be inside of the building from 10-12, when the worst of the rain hit Corpus Christi.
“My street started to flood and my neighbor’s roof got torn off. Classes were very empty and teachers were very understanding, I struggled to get to my first period because I got dropped off at the Band Hall and had to go across campus. The hurricane ended up hurting so many people that my friend’s mom (the hospital manager) had to stay at work for the whole day and night,” said senior Finn Carrillo.
While Harold’s damage doesn’t hold a candle to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Harvey six years ago, for many, it brought back those memories.
